Monday, September 23, 2013

Power Projection on a Global Scale and Enterprise Mobility

Power Projection

Hillsong United, is a global musical powerhouse headquartered in Sydney, Australia. While I was in Sydney recently I was able to attend a musical program led by Hillsong's Taya Smith. Taya Smith is the singer of the popular christian worship song Oceans. Last week, our daughter sang this song at Whitworth Univeristy in Spokane, Washington, and we heard this same song again in Austin, Texas over the weekend. That is "talent and influence projection." A musical group from thousands of miles away can project their talent into musical programs worldwide within days thanks to digital technology.

The term "Power or Capabilities Projection" is the ability to influence events and act from afar. This is what enterprise mobility is all about. It's the ability to provide better customer service over vast distances because you know where your 5,000 service technicians are located and the status of the jobs they are working on. You can provide more accurate estimates of their arrival, more efficiently assign jobs and route them to the next location all from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Companies that recognize the importance of "power or capabilities projection" and the role enterprise mobility plays in it, can develop economies of scale previously unimagined. Today a company's SMEs (subject matter experts) can be brought to a job site "virtually" using mobile technologies. The SME can view a job site via live video, ask questions, analyze data collected on mobile devices and assist in solving solutions remotely. Rather than hire an SME for every location, one SME can now project their expertise globally, thus enabling better service and reducing costs.

In addition, mobile enterprise collaboration apps connected to cloud platforms can enable leaders and SMEs globally to work together to quickly and efficiently solve problems in distant lands. This is a big deal. Many countries may have a strong military able to defend their own borders, but few have the ability to "project" their power outside of their region which limits their influence and power. Companies able to project their capabilities have nearly unlimited potential for growth.

Cloud-based solutions can also offer incredibly powerful capabilities to project your company, brand, products and services. Today, a competitor's team can land in your market, connect to the Internet and have access to complete ERPs, CRMs, logistic systems and social/mobile marketing platforms in seconds. That is a different level of competition and speed to market than many of us are accustomed to dealing with. It takes a different game plan.

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.